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Bee forage check

How good is this spot for honey bees?

Enter an address or tap the map. You'll see which bee plants and crops are within flight range (about 3.7 miles, with nearer land counting more), when the honey flow comes and when there's a dearth, nearby water, a few things worth checking, and how the spot ranks against random sites in your state and across the country.

Or tap the map. We don't store your address or exact location.

The colors are the national forage map: every square kilometer of the lower 48, scored the same way. See the honey flow for your state and town, the best and worst spots we found, or how the scoring works.

Forage report for 37.5774, -88.7714

Estimated forage here is better than about 9% of sites in Illinois. Against other Illinois sites it stands out most in spring (99th percentile) and lowest in summer (3rd). Biggest nearby bee crops: soybeans (nearest 0.5 mi NW, grown 4 of the last 5 years); corn (nearest 0.7 mi NW, grown 2 of the last 5 years). Nearest mapped water: mapped stream or canal (may be dry in late summer), less than 0.1 mi away.

Ranking

  • Continental US: 79th percentile (spring 95th, summer 63rd, fall 40th)
  • Illinois: 9th percentile (spring 99th, summer 3rd, fall 77th)
  • Interior Plateau: 68th percentile (spring 86th, summer 59th, fall 71st)

Percentile among 3,000 random land points across Illinois, scored the same way; land in general, not beekeepers' yards.

Season

  • First forage: Feb 1 — Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Dandelion
  • Main flow: Mar 16 to Jun 30 — Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans
  • Fall flow: Jul 16 to Jul 31 — Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion
  • Season ends: Sep 30

Bee crops nearby

  • Soybeans: about 319 acres in a typical year, nearest 1 mi S, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 123 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.3 mi SE, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 391 acres in a typical year, nearest 1.9 mi N, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 15 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.5 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Soybeans: about 27 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms late May – late Jul
  • Corn: about 24 acres in a typical year, nearest 0.7 mi NW, blooms early Jun – early Jul

What the honey would be made of

  • Spring honey (March to June): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar), Soybeans; extra light amber
  • Summer honey (July and August): Soybeans, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster); extra light amber
  • Fall honey (September to November): Fall wildflowers (goldenrod, aster), Garden flowers, Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion; amber
  • Whole season (March to November): Clovers: white, alsike and red, Dandelion, Soybeans, Early trees (maple, willow, poplar); extra light amber

Things to watch

  • No digital FEMA flood map here. FEMA has no digital flood map for this area. Ask the county, and look for low ground near creeks before placing hives.

An estimate from public maps (USDA crop maps 2021-2025 averaged, LANDFIRE vegetation), not a survey of the ground. Maps can't see garden plantings, understory density, other beekeepers' hives, or this year's weather. Honey composition is a nectar-source estimate, not a pollen analysis. Benchmark 2026.5. How this works.